


Wave Pool

by Redpanda18



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Kim Seungmin-centric, M/M, Mild Angst, Minor Injuries, Near Death Experiences, Near Drowning, Protectiveness, Yang Jeongin | I.N-centric, mild concussions, seungmin is a Good Friend, seungmin is a sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21766963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redpanda18/pseuds/Redpanda18
Summary: The members decide to go to a water park on their day off. Fortunately, there is a new wave pool Seungmin's friends want to try out, or is it fortunate? What should have been a fun experience ends up quickly spiraling into something much worse when something goes wrong.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin & Kim Seungmin, Kim Seungmin & Yang Jeongin | I.N, Kim Seungmin/Everyone
Comments: 8
Kudos: 258





	Wave Pool

The group had just finished with promotions so their manager decided to reward them by allowing them a rare day off, which is exactly why all of them are currently gathered in the living room. There’s a lot of arguing going on and Seungmin decides to just sit back and watch, no one would hear him anyway and it’s hilarious watching everyone trying to pitch their idea for what they should do today.

Jisung and Minho teamed up at some point and are trying to convince the leader to go to a cat cafe. Felix, Changbin, and Jeongin are trying to spin the idea of going to a water park, and Hyunjin and Woojin are claiming that seeing a movie is the superior option. Honestly, Seungmin’s good with whatever they chose he just wants the members to decide already.

“Hyung, just listen. We haven’t been to a water park in forever and it’s still hot outside so we might as well go while we still can. We can go to a cafe or a movie anytime!” Felix argues.

“Hey! This isn’t just any cafe, it’s a  _ cat  _ cafe,” Minho insists.

Chan face palms and lets out a deep sigh. 

  
“I would say we could take a vote but I already know how that’s going to go, so how about we have representatives from each group do rock paper scissors?”   
  


“Hey wait! Seungmin hasn’t said what he wants to do yet.”

  
  
All eyes turn the vocalist and he just shrugs.

  
  
“I really don’t care what we do. I’m fine with whatever,” he says nonchalantly.

“Are you sure?” Chan double checks.

Seungmin nods and gives the leader a bright smile to reassure him.

“Ok then! Let’s get this over with.”

Minho, Felix, and Hyunjin immediately swarm to the middle and try to battle it out. Minho loses in the first round, which he complains loudly about, and then Felix beats Hyungjin, letting out a victory cry right after. 

Chan lets team water park gloat for a little bit and the other teams sulk before intervening.

“All right, that’s enough. It’s decided. We’re going to a water park everyone go and grab whatever you need. We’ll leave in fifteen minutes.” The leader announces.

The members all get up and go to gather their belongings in various states of excitement. Seungmin enters his shared room and goes to the drawer where he remembers putting his swim stuff from last time. He opens the middle door and digs around to find a swim shirt and trunks, they’re exactly where he thought they were. He hears groaning and then laughing and knows that his roommates have just come in.

A moment later, he feels someone drape themselves over his shoulders and sigh. It’s probably Hyunjin.

“I don’t understand! The tall boy whines. “How could no one else see that going to the movies is a perfect way to relax?!”

“Sorry Jinnie, but you did lose so…” Seungmin trails off.

This just makes the rapper pout more and he ends up peeling himself off of Seungmin to go flop onto his own bed. 

“Yeah, you heard what Minnie said. You lost so just deal with it,” Changbin laughs from where he’s gathering his own things.

“Stop gloating already!” Minho shouts from his position on the floor where he’s unwrapping one of his bundles.

Seungmin looks around at his other roommates as they continue to bicker and he snickers at them before heading to the bathroom. He grabs one of the bottles of sunscreen in the medicine cabinet and then changes quickly. By the time he gets back, the other three have finally pulled themselves together and are changing. The brunette rolls his eyes and shuffles over to the corner to retrieve his towel before exiting the room again. Almost everyone has gathered there again except his three roommates and Jisung. 

The rest of them wait for at least five more minutes until the missing members finally emerge. 

“Does everyone have everything? Do you have your phone, towel, sunscreen, swim stuff?”

“Yes dad,” Felix replies exasperatedly, but not unkind.

The singer huffs, but everyone knows he’s not really angry.

All nine of them make their way outside the dorm and start the short walk to the water park Felix, Changbin, and Jeongin want to go to. Hyunjin ends up sticking to Seungmin’s side like usual and the two of them flip between various topics on the way there. Hyunjin says something about trying to escape to go see a movie while the others are distracted and Seungmin laughs. He has to tell his friend multiple times that no, it isn’t a good idea to run off, and yes Chan would be very mad.

Felix and Jeongin are bursting with energy when they arrive and the other members have finally accepted their fate. No one is really complaining anymore and everyone is just ready to get in and have a fun time. Chan makes sure that everyone is accounted for before paying the entrance fee and even does a headcount a second time when they get through the gates. 

“Ok guys, you know the drill. You need to be with at least one other person at all times, no one goes alone, but other than that have a good time! Also, meet back up here at five and make sure your phones are all on so you can hear if any of us contact you.”

  
  
“Ok!” Everyone choruses back. 

Seungmin somehow ends up in a group with Hyunjin, Jisung, and Jeongin. He’s a little confused because Jisung usually sticks with Minho, but he’s not complaining. Jisung insists that they have to do the lazy river first before it gets crowded, so that’s where they go first after putting their stuff down on a few chairs.

Watching Jisung trying to get into an inner tube without falling is honestly one of the funniest things Seungmin has ever seen. The other boy just doesn’t seem to understand how it works. He keeps trying to jump on it, but then he ends up just flopping onto one side and tipping it over because it’s unbalanced. It’s pretty funny, but then Seungmin eventually decides to take pity on him and helps him out. He holds Jisung’s hand as the other carefully positions himself to sit on the inner tube like you’re supposed to while Hyunjin and Jeongin die of laughter in the background.

“Yah! Stop laughing!” Jisung yells as the others get onto their own inner tubes, still laughing.

“Sorry Sungie, but it was hilarious,” Hyunjin says, not apologetic at all.

“It’s true hyung!” Jeongin adds.

“Noooooo.”

The rapper looks at Seungmin for backup and the vocalist just starts giggling again.

“Come on Sungie, you have to admit that it was a little funny,” Seungmin says pointedly.

The fellow zero liner just scoffs, and that’s all it takes for the other three to start a floaty war as they go down the lazy river. Seungmin almost gets kicked in the head multiple times, but it’s entirely worth it. He ends up being really good at their inner tube war because at the end of the course, he’s the only one who hasn’t gotten flipped over. However, the other three quickly rectify that when they decide to have a diving board contest and Hyungin aggressively pushes Seungmin into the water when it’s his turn. They spend a good chunk of time trying to one-up each other with dumb poses on the diving board. Jeongin ends up winning, but that could also be due to the fact that his hyung’s are whipped for him. Seungmin is sitting on the edge of the pool with Jeongin as the two of them watch Jisung and Hyunjin try to have a “who can jump the highest” competition. 

Surprisingly, Jisung is in the lead, but then Hyunjin suggests they go to the big diving boards behind them and the rapper folds. 

Seungmin scooches closer to Jeongin and goes to ruffle his hair, and in general bother him, when the other boy scrambles away.

“Don't! Can you not bother me for once?”

Seungmin laughs devilishly but then shifts to be more serious.

“Are you having fun?”

“Yes! Why?”

“Just checking, no reason,” Seungmin replies easily.

Jeongin considers the older boy’s answer before smirking.

“I think that the best things so far was Jisung and the inner tube,” the maknae laughs.

“Oh definitely! He’s never going to live that one down.”

“Nope! Hey, we should go to the wave pool!”

Seungmin tilts his head to the side. He didn’t remember this place ever having a wave pool. Jeongin nods enthusiastically. 

“Yeah! I saw it on the map when we came in. I think it’s new.”

  
  
“That would make sense. I don’t remember there one being here before. How about you yell at Jisung and Hyunjin and tell them the plan.”

The other singer gets up and walks over to the diving board where Jisung and Hyunjin have picked back up their argument on going to the taller diving boards. The maknae easily captures their attention when he calls out to them excitedly. Seungmin watches as he tells them about the wave pool and practically drags them back over.

“Sooooo,” Hyunjin drawls lazily. “Where’s this wave pool?”

Seungmin narrows his eyes at the visual’s tone.

“I don’t know. Jeongin told me about it, and whatever you’re planning, stop.”

“Awww c’mon Minnie! I’m not evil why would you say something like that?”

  
  
The singer gives Hyunjin a deadpan look and stands up to look at Jeongin. He nods at him to lead the way and the younger boy grabs Hyunjin’s wrist to start moving him in the other direction. Hyunjin is pouting again and Seungmin pretends to be annoyed when it reality he finds it kind of endearing. 

Jeongin leads them past the water slides, which Jisung had absolutely refused to go on, and past the lazy river. They walk down some stairs until they reach a lower level and that’s when they see it. Seungmin has no idea had they had all missed it before. The wave pool is huge, it’s like they just built a mini beach in the water park. There’s sand and everything. An alarm goes off, startling Jisung and Seungmin a bit, and they all watch as the waves start rolling in.

People scream in excitement as the first wave starts building up. Some people dive under while others just let the water sweep them away and some wait until the wave crashes so they can try body surfing. When it reaches its peak, the waves are about six feet tall, maybe a little more. The pool is crowded, but not too bad. Most people are hanging out in the middle of the pool where the waves crash, either standing or riding on a floaty of some kind. There are only a couple of people who are hanging around the zone where the waves start building.

They all stare for a few more seconds before Jeongin starts taking off, Hyunjin right on his tail. They race each other into the water and start swimming frantically to see who can get to the middle area faster. It’s pretty childish but funny to watch as they both try not to run into people on their way.

Seungmin goes to join them when he sees Jisung move in his peripheral vision and looks over to check on him. The rapper is anxiously fidgeting with his hands and he’s eyeing the pool warily. The singer lightly touches his arm and Jisung startles again but then looks away embarrassed.

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

Seungmin shakes his head to try and show Jisung that it isn’t a big deal.

“Are you ok?”

“This is why I didn’t go with Minho,” the rapper whispers.

Seungmin looks at Jisung, confused.

“I don’t like it when my feet can’t touch the bottom,” Jisung admits. “Minho said he wanted to do the wave pool on the way over and I know he likes to go in really far. It takes him forever to even get into the water, but once he’s in he goes all out.”

“Were you ok with the diving board contest then? It was pretty deep where we were,” Seungmin explains, concerned.

“Yeah, I was ok. There was a ladder so I felt like I could escape if I had to, but here there are so many people and -”

Seungmin cuts his friend off before he can spiral down any further.”

“We don’t have to go very far if you don’t want to. We’ll just go as far as your comfortable with ok? We don’t even have to go in if you don’t want to,” Seungmin comforts.

“Really?”

Jisung looks hesitant and maybe slightly guilty and that makes Seungmin’s heart hurt. He shouldn’t feel guilty at all, if anything Seungmin is the one who feels bad for not noticing. He should have checked on Jisung more and pressed as to why he was with them and not Minho.

“Of course!” The vocalist replies brightly, trying to lighten the mood.

He gently takes Jisung’s hand and leads them down to the water. Jisung follows willingly and doesn’t let go even when they make it most of the way through the shallow part. Seungmin continuously checks on his friend as they go further and he immediately stops when he feels Jisung hesitate. They make it a little more than halfway into the middle zone when Jisung fully stops. They’re in a decent amount, it’s not too deep but it’s deep enough that they can still have some fun.

“I’m good here,” Jisung tells Seungmin.

He squeezes his hand and then takes it back from the taller boy.

“Let’s have some fun now!” The rapper cheers.

The two of them have a good time splashing each other, seeing who can hold their breath longer, and jumping through the occasional waves when they start coming. Hyunjin and Jeongin eventually join them after they’ve gotten tired of playing around in the deeper part of the middle zone where the waves crash. The four of them play a game of chicken and just in general goof off for a long while. Seungmin finally discovers why Hyunjin was being suspicious earlier when the slightly older boy suggests that they do one giant piggyback with Seungmin on the bottom. The singer goes to protest but can’t resist when Jeongin gives him adorable puppy dog eyes.

He knows they probably look ridiculous, but he wishes someone was there to record it because he knows it’s probably entertainment gold. Hyunjin gets on his back first, then Jisung onto Hyunjin, and finally Jeongin onto Jisung’s back. They almost fall over the first time, but Seungmin somehow maneuvers to find a balance and they make it, for a little bit until they are hit by an unexpected wave and all fall over.

After that fiasco, Jeongin says he wants to go back to the deeper part to catch a few more waves before they have to leave. Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, Hyunjin volunteers to stay with Jisung. He’s more observant than people give him credit for. To make sure Jisung doesn’t protest and say something like he’s holding them back from having fun, Hyunjin says he’s tired and it’s dangerous for him to be the one to go with Jeongin. Seungmin has more energy to go out there with the younger in case something happens since he wasn’t playing around in the crash zone at all.

Jisung has nothing to say to that and Seungmin accompanies the maknae back out to where he was earlier. They two of them find a place right in the middle where they have enough space and won’t run into anyone. There are a couple of people in front of them but they’re a good distance away. The two maknae line members mess around with each other, well mainly Seungmin bothering Jeonin before the alarm sounds and they get ready for the waves.

The first one builds up and ends up being stronger than both Seungin and Jeongin anticipated because they are both swept off their feet when it finally crashes. When Seungmin gets back up he quickly looks around for the younger and sees that he’s been swept back a good couple of feet. Jeongin shakes his hair out like a dog and smiles as he tries to work his way back up to where Seungmin is standing. He gets about seven feet from Seungmin when they hear a loud crunching sound. Jeongin pauses where he is and gives him a confused look which the older can only return. Other people are also looking around trying to find the source of the sound when the second wave comes.

Seungmin can tell that this second wave is about to be different from the way it starts to crescendo and he’s not sure if it’s a good thing. The second wave is rolling in faster and it’s starting to create a strong undercurrent as it builds. The brunette starts backing up, as do other people, and he looks behind him to locate Jeongin quickly. The maknae has shifted over to the side to be near the wall as he waits for his hyung to get to him. 

Not even a minute later, there’s another cracking sound followed by a horrible grinding one and then panicked shouts. Seungmin stops dead in his tracks and looks over his shoulder to see a third, huge wave starting to barrel in. The people who were already too close to where the waves generate have been swept up and are trying to swim their way out. The second one wasn’t even crashed yet, but it’s about to, and Seungmin knows everyone is about to get slammed by two consecutive waves. Apparently, he’s not the only one who’s realized this as everyone starts frantically trying to exit the pool and get away.

He sees Jeongin’s eyes widen in fear when he realizes what’s happening and Seungmin knows he has to get to him. He’s got to protect him. The singer swims as fast as he can to try and reach Jeongin, who’s so close yet so far from him. He’s almost there and he can see Jeongin reaching out to him when he’s suddenly elbowed in the ribs and then the second wave crashes.

The undercurrent is strong like he thought it was and Seungmin is sucked under within seconds. He didn’t get a deep breath in before the wave hits so he tries to get to the surface as fast as possible. He ends up slamming into multiple people before he finally breaks the surface gasping for air. He looks around desperately trying to find a head of blonde hair before the third wave hits in a couple of seconds. Luckily, it doesn’t take long and Seungmin silently thanks Jeongin for dying his hair recently.

Their youngest member is struggling to stay afloat as several people and abanded floaties run into him. Seungmin doubles his efforts to try and get to Jeongin and musters up enough energy to yell his name.

“INNIE!” He yells at the top of his lungs. It comes out desperate and laced with fear, but by some miracle, he hears it.

Jeongin locks eyes with Seungmin and reaches out a hand to him as he tries to meet the other halfway. Seungmin manages to grab his hand right as the third wave hits them and tells himself not to let go no matter what. It’s almost like a drama where the two characters latch onto each other before the storm hits, except this is reality, and he’s terrified. Seungmin thought the second wave was strong, but the third one easily tops it. What’s worse is that people had started trying to get away before the second wave hit so now they are all congregated towards the middle. When the third wave reaches them, it’s a horrible mess of limbs and various pool floaties as the mass of people collected in the middle are caught up in the powerful swell. Seungmin keeps a firm hold onto Jeongin’s hand and tries to pull him in as close as he can, but it’s hard considering they’re getting hit from all sides.

The current pulls them up high as the wave builds to a peak, and then aggressively slams them down as it crashes. Seungmin can only describe the sensation as akin to being in a boxing match where your opponent grabs you and there’s a brief second of anticipation before you’re slammed down into the ground. He’s never boxed before, but he assumes the feeling is similar. Either way, the force they’re pushed down with is so great that it’s almost like being crushed with a boulder. There’s absolutely no way he could fight it, and it makes him feel helpless because he’s literally at the mercy of the water.

When the wave crashes, he’s suddenly being crushed by not only the water but other people. Several people end up on top of him and they all end up at the bottom of the pool because of the sheer force of the wave. He promised he wouldn’t let go of Jeongin, but once the wave crashed, the power of the wave, as well as other frantic people, ended up severing his grip. He blindly flails around trying to find something to hold onto but comes up with nothing. The water tosses and jumbles everyone around, flipping him over multiple times and causing him to collide with a body every couple of seconds. He’s violently flung into the wall at some point and thinks he may have hit his head, but that’s the least of his worries right now.

His lungs are burning as he tries to claw his way up to the top along with other desperate people. It’s only been a couple of seconds since they’ve been engulfed, but it’s the longest seconds of his life. He’s never feared for someone else’s life or his own as much as he does at that moment. He’s beyond terrified for Jeongin and scared that he’s about to drown himself. Just as he’s about to run out of air, the wave hits the largest part of the pool close to the shallower part of the middle and starts to disperse. Everyone caught in the tide is then carried out to the sides of the pool, the shore, or just wherever the water decides to carry them as if the pool has just decided to spit them out.

Seungmin is able to get some air in as the water starts to become less aggressive, but it’s still not quite enough. He ends up swallowing more water than he’d like, but at least he’s not totally deprived of air now. He allows the current to carry him and many other people onto the tile outside of the pool. Apparently, some of the barriers on the side had been knocked over and now water is spilling out of the sides of the pool too. Seungmin ends up with his back on the cold tile somewhere near a bunch of pool chairs. He lays there in shock for a few seconds before flipping over onto his side and coughing up a bunch of pool water. 

His whole body hurts and he’s lightheaded, but he’s still mostly aware of what’s happening. He hears people sobbing, coughing, yelling in pain, and yelling other people’s names. That’s when he remembers,  _ Jeongin _ . Adrenaline is still coursing through his veins so he’s able to ignore the pain he’s in and manage to stand up. He nearly falls over because he’s suddenly hit by a dizzy spell, but he brushes it off. Seungmin figures out that he’s been washed up on one of the broken sides of the pool and tries to make his way back to the shore to see if he can find any of his friends. 

His heart is racing and he doesn’t know if it’s from the fear he just experienced or the anxiety of not being able to spot Jeonging, Hyunjin, or Jisung among the sea of people. Security has arrived on the scene now and Seungmin sees some people being placed onto stretchers, which just makes his anxiety worse. He prays each time he sees one that it’s not one of his members. There are so many people everywhere and so many noises that Seungmin knows it’s going to be near impossible to find his friends, but he has to try. If they’re injured then he needs to find them. The worry is about to suffocate him, he needs to make sure they’re ok as soon as possible for his own sanity.

Seungmin weaves in between groups of people on the sandy beach part, but can’t seem to find anyone he recognizes. He’s getting increasingly frantic and is even considering running back to their stuff to try and call Chan or the police when he’s hit by another dizzy spell. He stumbles into someone and mumbles out an apology as he shuffles through the cluster of people to collapse onto a pool chair.  _ Why now? He needs to be finding Jeongin and the others not sitting here pathetically on this bench! _ Seungmin allows himself a couple of seconds to close his eyes and gather himself before making his next move. He wants to get on his feet as soon as possible, but he knows that he needs to make sure he won’t pass out first before doing anything. The zero liner takes a deep breath, opens his eyes, and-

“H-hyung?”

Seungmin gapes at Jeongin for what feels like forever before literally leaping up from the pool chair and pulling the younger in for a bone-crushing hug. He feels the maknae snake his own arms around him and then start to shake as he starts crying. Seungmin just holds him tighter and uses one hand to rub his back soothingly. With how close Jeongin is he can hear how fast the other’s heart is beating and that just makes him feel even more guilty. He shouldn’t have let go. He was supposed to be the one to protect Jeongin and he failed.

The youngest vocalist clings onto him and Seungmin whispers words of reassurance in hopes to calm him down. Eventually, his cries fade into sadder sniffles that cause a flare of protectiveness to surge through the brunette. He wants to hit something or blame someone or something for whatever happened. Before that, he needs to see if Jeongin is injured and get reunited with the other members.

“Hey Innie,” he calls softly. “Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Jeongin steps back to let Seungmin inspect him and he frowns at the gash on the younger’s right arm. He must have missed it earlier. Seungmin gently captures the other’s wrist and holds his arm out so he can better see the wound. It’s still bleeding, probably because it hadn’t had time to heal with Jeongin being in the water for so long. It’s not super deep, but it’s still concerning and it’s much worse than just a scratch. Seungmin releases his wrist and steps back a little bit so he can take off his swim shirt. Once he’s done he takes Jeongin’s arm again and presses his shirt to his wound. Jeongin winces and Seungmin quickly apologizes.

  
“I’m sorry. I know it hurts. I don’t know where to find anything dry right now, but hopefully the shirt will help a little. Just keep some pressure on it. We’ll get a doctor to look at it soon.” 

“Ok. Wait, hyung your stomach-” the youngest starts.

“Seungmin! Jeongin!” Multiple voices yell. 

The two maknae line members whip their heads around to try and find who’s calling them. Seungmin spots Hyunjin first, but he’s accompanied by everyone else. They’re standing a couple of feet away near the stairs that lead down to the wave pool. He doesn’t know how the other managed to gather everyone but he’s glad. Seungmin waves at the rapper and hopes that he sees it, he does. Hyunjin waves back wildly, says something to the group, and then all seven of them are dogding people and spewing apologies as they try and make it as fast as they can over to the two of them. Hyunjin arrives first like Seungmin thought and wastes no time and gathering Seungmin and Jeongin in for a hug.

The others arrive seconds after and join the big group hug. They only pull apart when someone accidentally jostles Jeongin’s arm and he hisses in pain, which has them all backing up immediately. Chan is at the youngest’s side immediately and asking him what hurts. Jeongin reluctantly peels back Seungmin’s shirt to show the leader the damage and Chan’s eyebrows draw in worriedly. 

The other hyungs start to dote on him and Seungmin takes in a relieved sigh knowing that he’s being looked after. He’s starting to feel really tired though and a weird haze starts to fall over him. It’s like everything is suddenly in slow motion now and it’s a surreal experience. When he looks back over to check on Jeongin again, he suddenly finds everyone’s eyes on him. He’s definitely missed something because he knows they weren’t looking at him like that a minute ago.

“What?” He asks weakly.

Hyunjin pushes past the members who have started to crowd around Seungmin so he can stand directly in front of him. He takes a good look at the brunette and frowns. There’s a nasty bruise, well more like multiple bruises littering the other’s stomach. Jeongin was sporting some too but the ones on Seungmin’s stomach are darker purple and blues and they look pretty bad. The dazed look in his eyes is also concerning. Hyunjin lightly reaches out to cup his cheek and turns his head a little bit to get Seungmin to focus on him. 

“Minnie are you ok? You seem kinda out of it. Your stomach looks pretty bad too you need to get checked out,” The rapper remarks slowly.

  
He waits patiently as the singer gathers his thoughts, and when he responds it’s a whole five seconds later. Hyunjin doesn’t know if he should be concerned or not yet.

“I’m ok,” Seungmin replies back, just as slow if not more.

Hyunjin feels a hand on his shoulder and glances over to see Chan looking at him. He gets the message and pulls his hand back from Seungmin’s face so the leader can assess him too.

“Hey Min it’s me, Chan. Can you hear me?”

  
  
Seungmin blinks owlishly but then responds slightly faster this time.

“Yes.”

  
  
“Ok good. How does your stomach feel?”

  
  
“Sore.”

  
  
“Ok what about your head?”

Hyunjin feels his heart skip a beat at that question. He hadn’t even thought about that, but the leader’s right. There probably is a reason he seems so dazed. Seungmin is silent as he considers how to answer, but when he does, it’s worrying.

“Foggy. Everything feels kinda off. My head kinda hurts but I think I may have hit it against the wall when the wave hit, I don’t really remember.”

“Ok. We’re going to the hospital now.” Chan announces.

He was going to make Seungmin and Jeongin go anyway, but with this new information, he knows they need to get checked out soon. There are multiple paramedics on site, and he debates taking the two to one of them when he hears Seungmin speak up.

“Hyung. Can you ask one of the managers to drive us? These paramedics are needed here, I’m sure there are injuries much worse than ours right now,” the singer reasons.

_ Damn Seungmin and his big heart.  _ Somehow he knew exactly what Chan was thinking, but wow. He really doesn’t think about himself at all and that’s probably why many of them are so protective of him.

“But Minnie you’re hurt though, and you probably have a concussion. You need to get checked out,” Jisung interjects.

“It’s fine Sungie. It’s really not that bad. I’m dazed but I’m not completely unaware I’ll be fine. As long as Jeongin’s ok then I don’t mind waiting.”

“I’m fine to wait, I don’t really wanna stay here with all these people,” the maknae pipes up.

That’s all the prompting they need. Felix draws Jeongin into a side hug and then Changbin and Woojin shuffle around to form a protective circle around the youngest as they start walking. Hyunjin loops Seungmin’s arm over his shoulders and carefully helps him so he can support him while they walk. Jisung occupies Seungmin’s other side and keeps a firm grip around his waist, but not too hard as not to aggravate his bruises. Someone, he doesn’t know who ends up finding some dry towels and draping one around Seungmin and one around Jeongin. Chan quickly types out a text to their manager to let him know what’s going on and helps Minho gather the mankae line’s stuff as they walk by the area they had started at.

When they reach the front gates, everyone is exhausted and just wants to go back to the dorm. Jeongin had migrated from sticking with Felix to cuddling against Seungmin as they all wait for their manager to arrive. He’s being more clingy with him than usual, but it makes sense. Jeongin usually hates when Seungmin tries to smother him with affection or cuddles, but after what just happened Seungmin assumes this is Jeongin’s way of reassuring himself that Seungmin is still there. He runs a hand through the younger boy’s damp hair in an attempt to keep himself awake. He desperately wants to sleep, but he knows if he has a concussion then that wouldn’t be the greatest idea before getting checked out.

The silence that falls over the group is tense, but not unbearably so. Seungmin can tell that Chan and a lot of the other members are angry and are trying hard not to show it. Jisung keeps glancing over at them concernedly as if he’s afraid they’re about to disappear and Seungmin silently notes to talk to him later. Hyunjin, who’s right next to him, is slightly stiff but the vocalist knows this is how he gets when he’s anxious or worried. He bumps Hyunjin’s arm lightly and gives him a small smile. Hyunjin returns the gesture and loosens up a little bit, so Seungmin considers that a win.

Soon enough, their manager arrives and Chan briefly fills him in before motioning to Jeongin and Seungmin. The zero liner nudges Jeongin to get up and the two of them follow their manager out to the car, with the help of Hyunjina and Chan of course. The other members want to tag along like Chan knew they would but the manager steps in before they can protest. He tells them that it’ll be quick doctor’s visit so they won’t be separated for long and the rest of Stray Kids are forced to agree. The manager purposely puts Seungmin and Jeongin in the first row and then everyone piles in after them. 

They swing by the dorm really quick to drop off the other members before heading off to the hospital. Jeongin seems nervous the whole way there so Seungmin holds his hand the entire journey and even when they arrive. Fortunately, the manager was right when he said the visit would be quick. Jeongin went first at Seungmin’s insistence and came back twenty minutes later with a bandage on his right arm. Then Seungmin had gone and had predictably been diagnosed with a mild concussion. He was honestly surprised that that’s all he got away with, he had been worried that the diagnosis was going to be worse so he was grateful. He was going to have symptoms for a bit and recovery would take seven to ten days, but that wasn’t so bad, he’d take it.

Jeongin fell asleep in the car, clearly exhausted, so when they got to the dorm Seungmin had their manager help put the maknae on his back. The door had opened almost immediately after he knocked and Seungmin cracked a smile at that, of course, their friends had probably been sitting around waiting for their return. Minho had been the one to open it and he quickly ushered them inside. Everyone was gathered in the living room like this morning, but the atmosphere was different, not necessarily bad, but different.

Seungmin made his way to the large sofa and had Hyunjin, who was already sitting there, help him set Jeongin down. 

“Should you really be carrying him when you’re injured? The rapper whispers.

“I’ve got a mild concussion, I’m not incapacitated.”

Hyunjin rolls his eyes at Seungmin’s sass but smiles anyway. 

“How are you feeling?” Someone asks.

Seungmin looks across the room to meet Jisung’s worried eyes and that reminds him of what he saw earlier.

“Much better. I’m just glad everyone’s ok. I was worried that you and Hyunjin got swept up too, so when I saw you and Jinnie with everyone else and not near the pool like us I was surprised.”

“Oh, sorry about that.”

  
  
“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault!” Seungmin replies casually.

“Actually, Hyunjin was the one who saw it coming,” Jisung continues.

“What?”

“When that loud crunching sound happened Jinnie knew that something was wrong and he said we had to get out soon. We tried yelling at you guys but then that second wave came in really fast and then everyone was trying to get away and then we saw that third one coming so Jinnie tried to get us out before that one hit. I’m sorry we left-”

“Don’t finish that sentence. I’ll say it as many times as you need. This is not your fault, it’s not anyone’s fault. Jinnie was right to try and get you guys to safety,” Seungmin says with conviction.

He feels the taller boy’s gaze on him and knows that this was the right thing to say for both Jisung and Hyunjin. Hyunjin may not have said anything, but Seungmin knows that he feels guilty, and he hopes that what he said clears that up.

Another pause falls over the group, but this time it’s Hyunjin who breaks it after a while.

“After we saw that third wave roll in we had almost made it to the beach part and I told Jisung to call Chan and let him know what happened once we got out. That’s why we were with them. I figured you would take care of Innie so I figured we’d try and collect everyone else since I knew they’d worry once the news spread.”

  
  
For some reason, one part of what Hyunjin said really sticks out in Seungmin’s mind. The part about the rapper assuming Seungmin would take care of Jeongin plays on repeat in his mind and he can’t help what he blurs out next.

“I didn’t take care of him though,” he whispers.

“What?” He hears multiple voices ask.

“I managed to grab Innie’s hand before that tsunami wave, and I told myself not to let go but I did. And then he got that huge gash on his arm and I couldn’t find him after the tide went down,” Seungmin rambles. 

He opens his mouth to continue but a jab to his side instantly shuts him up and he yelps in pain. Jeongin sits up from his previous position of laying across Seungmin lap and glares at his hyung. It’s actually pretty intimidating. Jeongin makes fierce eye contact with him before sighing and sitting back on his knees so he’s still facing Seungmin.

“You should really take some of your own advice hyung,” the maknae says bluntly. “Like you said, it’s no one’s fault. Stop blaming yourself. You’re not the one who hurt me, the wave was.”

Seungmin laughs at that last part.

“Yah! Why are you trying to sound so wise all of a sudden? And you were awake the whole time?"

“No, I just woke up to hear what you said. Also, I’ve always been wise.”

That gets everyone laughing and Seungmin smiles fondly at Jeongin before going to ruffle his hair. This time, he lets it happen. Once the mile chaos has died down, Chan decides to get a word in really fast just to make sure things are settled.

“Just so we’re clear, this is no one’s fault. Got it?”   
  
“Got it,  _ Dad,”  _ Felix snarks for the second time that day.

“Yah! Who’re you calling dad?”

And then comes the second round of laughter and testing.


End file.
